10 Ways to Safeguard Your Small Business During the Winter

Canadian winters deliver harsh storms, extreme cold, and unpredictable conditions. And while the season offers its rewards – hockey, skiing, sledding – heavy snow, freezing rain, ice buildup, and high winds can damage your commercial property or cause customer injuries. 

For Canadian small business owners, these incidents can lead to costly repairs, liability claims, and significant business interruption.

Protecting your commercial property from winter weather doesn’t have to be complicated. By taking proactive steps, like improving snow and ice management, maintaining HVAC systems, and reinforcing roofs and walkways, you can reduce risks, avoid expensive damage, and keep your operations running safely all season long.

Here are 10 commercial property winter protection tips for business owners to consider to protect their businesses and finances over the long, dark winter months:

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1. Own the Sidewalk and Entrances

Slip and fall accidents that can injure customers and visitors to your business are common winter weather risks for businesses. 

Be ready to clear your property of snow after a storm (if yours is a large commercial property, hire a snow removal contractor to help). If your property has a driveway and parking lot, mark curbs, speed bumps, and ramps with high-contrast paint or stakes. 

Stock up on sand or de-icing salt to sprinkle on driveways, sidewalks, and pathways leading to the entrances and exits of your business to keep them free of ice, and keep emergency exits and delivery bays cleared. 

Also, keep a log book of dates and times when snow was cleared from your property and de-icing salt was applied.

2. Roll Out the (Anti-Slip) Welcome Mats

Snow outside that customers and employees trudge indoors can lead to wet, slick floors, posing another slip-and-fall hazard. 

Get anti-slip mats to place inside each entrance of your store or office, and ensure employees use a mop and bucket to quickly mop up pooling water in areas inside your workplace where customers frequent.

3. Use Signs to Warn Customers of Potential Slip-and-Fall Hazards

Whether indoors or outdoors, give customers and visitors to your business property fair warning that a surface or floor they’re walking on may be wet and slippery by displaying prominent signage in those areas.

4. Ensure Handrails Along Stairs Are Sturdy

If your business property has stairs or ramps that customers and employees use, check the handrails to ensure they’re sturdy and not loose.

5. Guard the Gutters and Downspouts

Your business property’s eavestrough and downspouts can become clogged and blocked by falling leaves and debris that compile in the fall. 

Clear debris (or hire a contractor to do it for you), and schedule a mid-winter inspection to prevent ice dams and ensure freezing rain and melting snow easily flow off your roof (especially flat roofs) and away from the foundation of your building.

6. Inspect Fire Safety Measures

Fire is a year-round threat to every business property owner. It is worthwhile to review and inspect your fire safety measures at least twice annually. 

Ensure the fire extinguishers at your business are in good working order and easily accessible and visible. Check all smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide alarms, replace their batteries, and test them. Give your employees a refresher on fire safety protocols and your company’s emergency procedures. 

Also, if you decorate your property for the holiday season, make sure decorations are set up in places away from heating sources indoors, and if you install holiday lights outside, only use lights designed for outdoor use.

7. Maintain a Steady Temperature Indoors

Keep the heat on and set minimum temps for off-hours (18C is recommended) inside your building to prevent property damage, such as mould or freezing water pipes that could crack and leak.

Replace furnace filters, test thermostats, and use smart sensors (they’re relatively cheap) that wirelessly connect to your mobile phone to alert you if the temperature suddenly plummets indoors.

Also, get an HVAC professional to inspect your building’s heating and ventilation systems before the worst of winter weather arrives to ensure the furnace and boiler are in good working condition.

8. Get the Integrity of Your Building’s Roof Checked

Hire a roofing contractor to inspect your building’s roof before winter hits to look for and repair loose roofing shingles, leaks, and other potential problems that could lead to ice dams forming or the roof collapsing under the weight of heavy snow.

9. Get a Plumber to Inspect and Insulate Water Pipes

A common risk that business properties face when the temperature plummets is water pipes freezing and cracking, which causes water damage inside a building. 

Hire a plumber to inspect your property’s water pipes to look for potential problems, such as leaking faucets. Insulate water pipes that may freeze even if the heat in the building is on (for example, plumbing pipes in cabinets beneath a sink that don’t get a lot of warm air circulating around them). Also, know where the water shut-off valve is in your building in case a water pipe bursts.

10. Light the Way and Use Surveillance Cameras

Theft and shoplifting may not be something you think about as a winter-specific risk, but crime does not take a holiday in the winter. Plus, longer, darker nights when your business is closed can tempt thieves to break into your property.

Keep the exterior of your store lit up around the clock, install monitored surveillance cameras and an alarm system, and post signage warning potential thieves that they are under the watchful eye of security cameras. 

Additional tip: Remove valuable products from exterior window displays before the end of each business day to prevent “smash-and-grab” robberies.

Get Commercial Insurance Before the Flurries Swirl

Protecting your business from winter damage and from damages and losses year-round with a comprehensive business insurance policy is critical.

Considering the incidents that could arise during the winter months, such as slip-and-fall accidents, property damage from snowstorms, or business interruption due to severe weather, that could cost you tens of thousands of dollars, these are the coverages your policy should include: 

• General liability insurance covers third-party bodily injury (like a customer slip-and-fall accident) or third-party property damage claims that occur on your business property and elsewhere, such as at a client’s location because of your usual operations.

• Commercial property insurance covers damage and loss to business property, contents, and inventory caused by natural disasters, fires, floods, wind and snowstorms, theft, and vandalism.

• Business interruption insurance covers losses from an insurable event, such as a fire, water damage, theft, vandalism, or a natural disaster if you’re forced to close temporarily for repairs. This type of coverage is sometimes included in a commercial property policy.

If you’re looking for better coverage at a lower cost, we can help you achieve your goals and safeguard your business.

Complete our online application for a free quote in less than five minutes.

With our expertise in commercial insurance and through our partner network of over 50 insurers, we can find the low-cost policy you need to address your specific risks.

– Updated December 15, 2025.